For years, medical and vocational evaluators have been testing and otherwise attempting to evaluate dexterity and other physical qualifications of applicants and workers to assist in safe and productive placement in specific jobs. Most of these tests measure one or more of the physical demands and aptitudes of jobs which are specified in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Examples of tests which evaluate dexterity of arms, wrists, and hands are the Purdue Pegboard Test by Science Research Associates, Inc., the Hand-Tool Dexterity Test by The Psychological Corporation, the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test by The Psychological Corporation, and the Valpar Corporation Component Work Sample 4 test. A further test of this nature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,351.
The Purdue Pegboard Test evaluates dexterity for two types of activities, (1) gross movement of hands, fingers, and arms, and (2) "fingertip" dexterity. The person being tested is seated at a table while undergoing the test, and the test apparatus rests on that table. The person must pick up pins, washers, and collars while using either his dominant hand, or his "other" hand. The pins, washers, and collars are rather small in size, so the person must use his "fingertip" dexterity in manipulating those parts.
The Hand-Tool Dexterity Test evaluates a person's proficiency in using ordinary mechanics' tools. This test is specifically designed to minimize the advantage gained by superior planning ability, but instead, tests the combination of aptitude and achievement based on past experiences in tool use. The test apparatus rests on a work bench or table which is 34 inches above the floor. The test subject must loosen nuts on bolts by use of wrenches, and then after some loosening, by use of his fingers.
The Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test evaluates fine eye-hand coordination. The person being tested is seated at a table while undergoing the test, and the test apparatus rests on that table. The test subject must use tweezers to insert small pins in close-fitting holes in a plate and then place small collars over the protruding pins. The test subject must also start small screws in threaded holes in a plate and then use a screwdriver to screw them down.
The Valpar Component Work Sample 4 test (VCWS 4) evaluates the upper extremity range of motion, including the shoulder, upper arm, forearm, elbow, wrist, and hand. This test gives an evaluator an actuarial level of a person's neck and back fatigue, finger dexterity and finger tactile sense. These factors are not measured independently, but as they relate to an entire range of motion in a work stress situation. The normal test has the person standing in front of a work table or work bench, however the test can be used with a disabled person who is sitting. The test apparatus consists of a five-sided square box which has each of its sides lined with visually obscured bolts which have threads protruding into the interior of the square box. The front side of the square box has a circular opening so that a person's hand can be inserted inside the box. A second portion of the apparatus consists of a nut tray which is placed on the right or left side of the box, depending upon which hand is the dominant hand of the test subject. To perform the test, the test subject must pick up one nut at a time from the nut tray and place it on each of the bolts inside of the box. After each of the sides of the box has had nuts threaded onto each of the bolts, the test subject then disassembles those nuts from each of the bolts. Each hand is tested separately. The entire test is timed, and the test duration for the average person is around 27 minutes. VCWS 4 does not teach nor suggest the use of its box apparatus at different elevations when used with a test subject.
The test disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,351, to Vermette also consists of a five-sided box which has bolts lining each of the box sides which have threads facing the interior of the box, and also has a circular opening in one of the sides of the boxes for placing the human hand into the interior of the box. In addition, Vermette includes interior partitions to make it more difficult to get at the bolts which are protruding through the exterior surfaces of the box, and to get at the nuts which are on the bolts. Vermette includes a test method which is designed to simulate manual operations by use of an enclosed, partitioned box, which is visually obscured. Vermette does not teach nor suggest the use of its box apparatus at different elevations when used with a test subject.
All of the above tests consist of procedures that are to be performed at table-top height, and not at elevations above the test subject's head or below the test subject's knees. It is, therefore, obvious that each of the above tests evaluates a person's dexterity level at an elevation which is the easiest for a human to perform at, and does not evaluate the dexterity of a person's arms or wrists at elevations which are more difficult to work at.
Valpar Corporation offers two other testing methods and apparatus for evaluating other aspects of a person's dexterity. The Valpar Component Work Sample 9 (VCWS 9) evaluates a whole body range of motion. VCWS 9 is specifically designed to test a person's dexterity while that person repeatedly moves from one position to another, while doing certain tasks, generally transferring items from one height location to another height location. VCWS 9 is specifically designed to be different from other commonly used tests, wherein the person is either sitting or standing comfortably. The person being evaluated must remove a number of nuts from bolts which are permanently attached to the test fixture, and then place those nuts into a nut tray, which is at about chest level. After all the nuts are removed from a particular location, a plastic form, such as a square or a triangle is then removed from the bolts and then placed upon a similar pattern of bolts which is at a different elevation. At that point, the test subject removes nuts from the nut tray and screws them down over bolts, thus holding the plastic form in place at that elevation. The test procedure starts at forms which are at eye level, then proceeds to an overhead level, then to waist level, then to knee level, and, finally, back to eye level. The overall test requires around 30 minutes for the average person to complete. While performing the overhead portion of the test, the test subject must repeatedly reach down to grab a nut from the nut tray, and then reach back up to the overhead level for placement of that nut. For the portion of the test that takes place at the knee level, the person must repeatedly reach up to grab a nut from the nut tray, and then stoop in order to place the nut at the proper bolt. VCWS 9 thus achieves its purpose of forcing the test subject to repeatedly move around, rather than maintaining fixed posture during each part of the test.
The Valpar Component Work Sample 19 (VCWS 19) evaluates a person's dynamic physical capacities. The purpose of this test is to give an objective measure of the Physical Demands Factor of the Worker Qualifications Profile of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. VCWS 19 evaluates the five different strength levels of the physical demands factors: 10, 20, 50, 100, and over 100 pounds. VCWS 19 also allows observation of certain subfactors such as: climbing and balancing, stooping, crouching, reaching handling, standing, walking, carrying, lifting, fingering (feeling), pushing and pulling, kneeling, talking and hearing, and seeing. VCWS 19 is very dynamic in nature, and differs from most physical tolerance exercises which require a person to work in a more stationary position. The test additionally evaluates endurance along with strength; once the person's strength level has been established, he continues to work at that level for about 20 minutes. The test procedure is as follows: (1) a test subject reads an invoice, (2) locates a shipping carton, (3) removes a shipping carton from a shelf, sometimes having to climb up on a ladder, (4) packs the carton properly, and (5) weighs the carton and places it in the proper place for shipping. In carrying out this exercise, the test subject performs tasks which are very similar to those of a shipping and receiving clerk, or a parts order clerk.
The Valpar VCWS 9 whole body range of motion tester and the Valpar VCWS 19 dynamic physical capacities tester evaluate a person's dexterity and physical capacity, respectively, while moving through a wide range of motions. However, neither Valpar test is designed to determine whether a specific work height or posture causes a particular problem for the test subject. In other words, if a particular work posture or work height causes a particular problem for the test subject, both Valpar VCWS 9 and VCWS 19 tests can only determine that a particular set of motions has slowed the test subject down. Neither of these Valpar tests can identify which single particular position was the cause of the test subject's problem.
Health care professionals such as physicians have not widely used objective tests of physical abilities to make placement decisions, because of the time and expense of such vocational testing. The above mentioned Valpar VCWS 9 and VCWS 19 testing equipment both take up a large amount of space within a given room of a building. In addition, each of these two tests takes a relatively long period of time for a test subject to perform, thus making it difficult to test a large number of persons in medical or employee health settings. Vocational evaluators who use such time consuming work samples are not able to respond cost effectively to the needs of competitive industry.